AirAsia Bhd group chief executive officer Tan Sri Tony Fernandes said the group will continue to grow its presence and market share in Southeast Asia, with Vietnam as the final piece of the puzzle to complete the airline’s regional connectivity.

Group revenue surged to RM9.71 billion from RM6.85 billion in the previous year, thanks to the consolidation of results from PT Indonesia AirAsia and the Philippines-based AirAsia Inc Group of Companies.

For the fourth quarter, AirAsia’s net profit fell 20 per cent to RM372.6 million from RM465.3 million a year earlier, bogged down by higher operating expenses and tax charges.

Its revenue rose 37 per cent to RM2.66 billion from RM1.94 billion, AirAsia said in a filing to Bursa Malaysia today.

“This past 2017 was a year of tremendous change and expansion for us. We added 30 aircraft to our group-wide fleet, of which 24 were fully operational at the close of the year,” AirAsia Group chief executive officer Tan Sri Tony Fernandes said in a separate statement.

“In seat capacity terms, we added 16 per cent year-on-year in the fourth quarter and 10 per cent for the whole of 2017. Very few of those added seats went unsold as we grew group-wide passenger traffic by 11 per cent in FY2017, one percentage point more than the increase in seat capacity,” he added.

On the group’s outlook, Fernandes said travel demand in the region is still largely unmet by the current offerings.

It will continue to grow its presence and market share in Southeast Asia, with Vietnam as the final piece of the puzzle to complete our regional connectivity.

“Asean, Indian and Japanese travelers alike want to travel more and travel low cost. AirAsia is optimistic about the growth potential of low-cost air travel, and the potential of our fares to stimulate and grow new markets,” he said.

AirAsia, he added, plans to more than double its current fleet of narrowbody aircraft from over 200-strong currently to 500 fleet by 2027.